I believe the candidates seem to mirror each other because, like World Wrestling Entertainment, it is what the public wants. Remember the "I will pursue a humble foreign policy" remark of Bush's, even as he was contemplating attacking Iraq. The public like that from a candidate with no foreign policy experience.

And then once the exhibition is over they each attempt to govern according to the demands of their "bases".

For Bush and McCain that includes the radical Christian fundamentalists, the American Taliban if you will, the Christian mullahs, for votes and the super-wealthy for funding.

For Obama it includes the more liberal of the middle and lower classes for votes and funding as well as the super-wealthy as they lay off their bets.

But I believe the campaigns tend to resemble each other as each answers the others charges, and rapidly decends to the lowest common denominator. If one side does not slide into the muck with the other, the electorate tends to believe the initial accusation was true and than becomes their mantra for the remainder of the election cycle.

And, after Reagan was elected the second time, I realized that America gets what it deserves. And that there are societal conditions which favor the super-wealthy. For instance, a poorly educated underclass, steeped in having everything handed to them, develops a sense of entitlement and fails to vote.

And those individuals who worship their "team", live through others, cannot resist the appeal of jingoism. Just cannot resist it. And they will go for the most jingoistic candidate.

Etc. and so on.